Yakima Jamboree
POWER I-A DIVISION
March 17-18, 2007 @ Yakima, WA

The Cowlitz teams traveled over the pass to Yakima, Washington, to play the top volleyball teams from Oregon and Washington, the weekend of March 17th and 18th. What a great time for the girls ... interacting with other Cowlitz teams ... door decorating ... Secret Sisters ... great Continental Breakfast (Ha-Ha) ... and volleyball, volleyball, volleyball! Could you ask for more fun?

Saturday, the Cowlitz 14's Blacks dominated at Riverside Christian School from the start. They rallied to easily win their pool. All aspects of their game were in-sync. Great serving, hitting, and defense kept us competitive. We hit hard. Our serves were difficult to receive, making play easy for us. The girls made incredible defensive plays keeping the spectators in awe. The morning readied us for some tough afternoon bracket play at Selah Junior High.

Sunday, we faced challenging competition in the Championship Bracket play at Selah High School. Teams were hitting, tipping, and serving bricks at us. We met the challenge and continued to play our hearts out. Each tournament we improve some aspect of our game. This weekend the girls blocked the middle, adjusted tip coverage, setters tipped to holes, and defense covered all corners of the back court.

Every girl participated in spectacular plays that made them proud all weekend long. There were lots of smiles each match. Sunday was a long day with limited rest and lots of playing. They competed to the end. Cowlitz 14's Blacks are meshing and playing "team" volleyball, finishing an impressive 6th Place out of 32 teams in the Yakima Tournament Power Division. Power League here we come, April 1!

INDIVIDUAL & TEAM HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Kylie M. - 11 kills ... 6 aces ... 53 assists ... 10 digs ... 2 blocks ... She was everywhere doing everything!

2. Amanda L. - 21 kills ... 14 aces ... 5 digs ... didn't feel so good Sunday am ... but kept on going! Awesome!

3. Caitlin P. - 13 Kills ( 4 in one game) ... no service errors ... 3 blocks ... played tough in middle and outside!

4. Charlie H. - 5 kills ... 2 aces ... 2 assists ... 7 blocks ... great job intimidating at the net! Many block touches!

5. Erin B. - 10 kills ... 11 aces ... 2 assists ... 10 digs ... Erin can do it all ... anywhere on the court!

6. Hannah J. - 40 kills ... 3 aces ... 63 assists ... 4 digs ... 3 blocks ... Sees the court ... knows where the holes are!

7. Chelsea R. - 19 kills ... jumps ... jumps ... jumps ... made great defensive saves ... Smart hitting ... again!

8. Lexie V. - 4 kills ... 9 aces ... 2 digs ... iced the teams off the floor with "ON" Serving! WOW! WOW! WOW!

9. Kylie H. - 11 kills ... 3 aces ... 11 blocks ... She did all this with a "bum" ankle ... What toughness Kylie H.!

10. Rachel M. - 33 kills ... 47% kill percentage ... 3 aces ... 2 digs ... 24 blocks ... Can you say JUMP & REACH? STUD!

11. Jill I. - 1 kill ... 1 assist ... 173 passes to target ... dove in all directions ... loves bruising her hips. Right Jill?

Power League - March
GOLD DIVISION
March 10, 2007 @ Central Catholic HS - Portland, OR

GREAT EFFORT GIRLS!

The 14's Black traveled south to Portland for this month's Power League Tourney. What a great day!

We participated in our second "GOLD" level tourney and a tough pool. We played the best we've played all season against some fantastic ball clubs. We didn't have a full roster as well, due to an ankle injury of one of our middle blockers. The other team members adapted and adjusted to fill her shoes. That's what's so great about our team. We are deep. Many players are capable of playing at a variety of positions, willing to stretch their skills, and accept the challenge of trying something new. All the girls love the sport of volleyball.

The Portland Clubs were at their best ... PVC ... Rose City ... Roseburg. Attacking ... serving ... defending ... you name it. Their offense, defense, and transitions were smooth. We were competitive and challenged our opponents each match ... coming within one or two points short of victory, moving us to the top seed of "Silver" division. As we gain more experience and practice getting the little kinks out of our game, the girls will be right back with the big guns.

It was fun to watch! We were involved with great play all day. We didn't win much but the coaches, players, and parents were happy with our quality of play. No one was disappointed with moving down. It made us aware of some tough competition and what the girls need to do as athletes to polish their game to get back to "GOLD." We served strong, ran tough offensive plays, made incredible digs, and reduced our mistakes. The girls are in a great spot as we prepare to head to Yakima, the weekend of March 16-18.

HERE ARE SOME TEAM HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY:

1. Kylie M. = great serving (4 aces), passing, and all-out hustle setting (19 assists), and hitting (6 kills)

2. Amanda L. = 90% serving, on-target passing (94%), aggressive net play

3. Caitlin P. = improved her serving game, 4 blocks, and ONE AWESOME DIG she'll remember forever!

4. Charlie H. = animal middle blocker (7 blocks), goal to stay out of the net ... she did ... 95% serving (2 aces)

5. Erin B. = phenomenal passing (98%), 4 digs, 3 setting assists ... terrific all-around defensive effort

6. Hannah J. = she came to hit ... on fire ... 22 kills ... 90% serving ... 19 assists ... one of her best tourneys

7. Chelsea R. = "Air Rinard" ... 11 kills ... mixed it up with tips ... chips ... hard line & cross court ... smart hitting

8. Lexie V. = great left back defense ... attacked hard at the net ... deep "floater" serves ... tough to return

9. Kylie H. = Man ... sprained her ankle, was unable to play ... cheered from the sidelines ... heal up soon Kylie!

10. Rachel M. = was a brick wall on the right side ... stopped the offense ... 3 stuff blocks ... one after the other

11. Jill I. = lovely "libero-ing", 7 digs ... one diving forward on down-the-line hit ... 93% passing

*Special Note: Athletes on the sideline during the tournament were wonderful! Spirited, supportive, and positive! You made a difference in our level of play. You stayed involved, were prepared to enter the game at all times ... just were huge "morale" boosters. Keep it going!

Power League - February
GOLD DIVISION
February 11, 2007 @ Not available

SILVER OR GOLD?

What a day! What competition! The 14's Black were up against the areas top clubs: Nike, PVC, Webfoot ... just to name a few. We were in gold...did we belong here? We sure did! These teams were attacking ... serving hard ... tipping ... digging ... excelling at all areas of the game. The competition was attacking and we had to work hard. Our goal for the day was to remain in Gold. Silver was not an option. We pulled it off. Gold is where we stayed!

Sunday morning we were off to a slow start. The girls missed a lot of important serves. Our serve-receive passing was not up to par. The defense was great ... our left-back girls were digging up cross-court attacks.

Setters were getting tip-coverage. Hitting was okay. Our loud voices couldn't be heard. Communication is vital to our team's success. One aspect of our game would be strong while another part would be non-existent. Once we meshed our communication, serving, passing, setting, hitting, and defense, we were one of the top Gold teams of the tourney.

We fought hard that morning, but didn't have a pool-play win. The scores didn't represent the caliber of our play. After a much-needed break we played our hearts out to remain in Gold. The Black's persevered and went for the GOLD. What was interesting ... Webfoot, who we lost to in 3 that morning, lost their game and moved to Silver. Way to pull through 14's!

Our girls have really improved their defense and are reading the hitter's attacks. Serve receive improved. Lots of players had block touches. The girls demonstrated many "Gold" caliber plays. Remaining focused on the hitting game, timing, variety, etc ... we will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

The Cowlitz 14's Black next tournament will be in Longview, on Sunday, Feb. 25, competing against the regions 16's teams. It may put sisters against sisters. We'll see!

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Hannah Johnson - all-around play, 5 blocks, set block well, defense, reading the court, communicating!
2. Jill Isaacson - incredible passing, court-talk, top Kill % of team, and she's a LIBERO - back-row attacks!
3. Kylie Moses - defense, creative attacking - tips, chips, key serving
4. Amanda Littlefield - hitting was great, but her left-block defense was WOW! She was on fire!
5. Caitlin Perrin - persistent, flexible, hit outside, then brought wild energy to our middle attack!
6. Charlie Hamilton - our go-to player when setter's out in front row, always ready to assist and block!
7. Erin Bate - defense, setting, serving, and worked on no silly faces all day ... Way to go Erin!
8. Chelsea Rinard - she loves to hit and does it well, great job on the left side attack!
9. Alexis Vogel - beautiful left back defense, improved her serving, smart hitting from left side.
10. Kylie Hochalter - 8 middle blocks ... impressive ... she's got her timing down ... wonderful serving.
11. Rachel Morrow - great serves, good movement at the net, improved her block touches and attacks.

Pre-Qualifier & Salem Tournaments
January 7 & 14, 2007 @ Longview, WA & Salem, OR

2007 Cowlitz 14's Black- You name it...this team's got it!

The 2007 Cowlitz 14's Black Volleyball team has arrived. Athletes ... passers, hitters, setters, servers ...You name it ... this team's got it! The girls proved this against the competition at the Longview Pre-Qualifier and again at the Salem Tournament.

Teamwork, offense, defense, and rotations are always a focus as a team learns to play together. We are off to a tremendous start. Our first tourney in Longview, we dominated our pool play in the morning and reached the finals against a tough West Valley team. The girl's are meshing. Serve receive was fantastic. Unfortunately, the hitting attack of West Valley was tough for us this early in the season. No doubt we'll meet up with them again in the future. Watch out West Valley!

Our second tourney we traveled to Salem. The girls practiced more aggressive offensive attacks, coverage, and we saw some blocking touches at the net. Whoopee! Again, we traveled through pool play easily and met the Cowlitz 14's Blue team in the finals. Terrific ending to a fun tournament. Energy, enthusiasm, and excitement generated through the gym. It was great competition for both teams. Cowlitz Blue served bullets and we had difficulty getting up a pass. They were awesome. We had great net play ... blocking, hitting, that was tough for the Blues. The Black's won a hard fought match in three. What great representation for our club. Everywhere in the gym bystanders were wondering where "Cowlitz" was. Great job Black & Blue. You put us on the map.

Standout performances of our players:

  Kylie Hochalter - animal at the net ... blocking ... near-perfect timing ... 10 blocks at Salem ... Wow!
  Amanda Littlefield-near - perfect serving ... total control of where they land ... aggressive attacks at net.
  Kylie Moses - new to setting position ... hustling ... trying new sets ... running the offense ... target serving.
  Lexie Vogel - defensive powerhouse ... makes consistent passes to setter ... loud ... hard hitting up front.
  Jill Isaacson - new to libero ... all over the court with body and voice ... great floor presence.
  Erin Bate - our utility player ... goes where she's needed ... sets, serves, hits, passes ... she does it all.
  Charlie Hamilton - hits well cross court ... knows her rotation ... tips over block ... great sense of humor.
  Hannah Johnson - improving every serve ... awesome defense ... great right-side blocking ... setting.
  Caitlin Perrin - hard-hitting at the corners ... tips middle ... blocks ... tough serves at opponents.
  Rachel Morrow - consistent serving ... aggressive net play ... hustled to her base position after serving.
  Chelsea Rinard - loves to hit ... jumps high ... moves quickly to hitting position ... nice overhead passing.

Power League in Albany, here we come, Sunday, Jan. 21st.